BAFTA star Peter Capaldi set for a happy return to Liverpool in The Ladykillers (VIDEO & film trailers)

BAFTA-WINNING actor Peter Capaldi will be making a return to a city he has developed a special affinity for when he stars in the world premiere of The Ladykillers at the Liverpool Playhouse this autumn.

BAFTA-WINNING actor Peter Capaldi will be making a return to a city he has developed a special affinity for when he stars in the world premiere of The Ladykillers at the Liverpool Playhouse this autumn.

Glaswegian Capaldi, best known for his role as the indomitable Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It, played George Harrison in a 1985 TV series about John Lennon and Yoko Ono as well as performing in Willy Russell's Beatles play 'John, Paul, George, Ringo & Bert' and regards both experiences fondly.

"Doing the TV drama really was great fun", Capaldi - who will be playing the role of arch-villain Professor Marcus when The Ladykillers opens in November - recalls with a smile.

"It was done in America and was put together very much on a budget.

"They cast all the Beatles as completely the wrong height although we didn't find this out until the first day of filming!

"We came running out to play at a supposed Shea Stadium with Ringo being a huge, tall guy and Mark McGann playing John - I loved it having been a Beatles fan as a child.

"I'd had a Beatles guitar and one of those black, vacuum-formed Beatles wigs from Woolworths that used to almost cut your ears off.

VIDEO:Peter Capaldi on playing George Harrison, Willy Russell & bring The Ladykillers to the Liverpool Playhouse

"Hearing their music takes me right back to me days of growing up in Glasgow tenement buildings - I've always thought they were amazing.

"Doing the Beatles play was actually one of my first proper jobs as an actor and I got embraced by Willy and his lot through that role and ended up in Blood Brothers so I've always felt an affinity with Liverpool since then.

"The city's far more like Glasgow than London is so I've always felt quite at home and it'll be great to be back when the play starts."

The Ladykillers will be Capaldi's first theatre work for five years and he is aware he is leaping back in at the deep end.

"I am a little nervous about the show because if we don't succeed, we'll definitely know about it.

"You can't come here and do a play that doesn't rise to the challenge but it's be great to be in a place that will tell you quickly if you're on the right track or not."

Writer Graham Linehan, who created Father Ted and The IT Crowd added, "It's a brilliant opportunity for us to try out the play in front of one of the toughest audiences in the world when it comes to comedy and make sure it's copper-bottomed when we bring it round the rest of the world.

"Also, my wife (sister of Liverpool comedian Peter Serafinowicz) knows this place pretty well and said she'd kill me if we didn't bring it here!"

VIDEO:Father Ted & The IT Crowd writer Graham Linehan on bringing The Ladykillers to the Liverpool Playhouse

The movie tells a story of a gang of five oddball criminals who rent an apartment in an isolated house in London from a octogenarian widow.

As their cover story they tell the eccentric woman they are members of an amateur string quintet and would like to use the rooms to hone their musical skills. In reality, they are plotting to rob a bank and plan to use Mrs. Wilberforce's Victorian sensibilities to their advantage.

The story has seen several remakes and a radio adaptation of the film was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1996, starring Edward Petherbridge.

In 2004 Tom Hanks took on the lead role, but the setting of the film was moved from London to Mississippi.

This year, theatre audiences will see IT Crowd creator Graham Lineham’s version of the BAFTA-winning screenplay.